Summary & Reader’s Response Draft #3 (Final Submission)

 

CVE1281 Effective Communication

Summary & Reader’s Response

Draft #3

Name: Nur Raudhah Binte Abdul Rahim

Student ID: 2002806

 

In the article, “How can Southeast Asia’s clean energy transition be sped up?”, Daubach (2019) wrote that because of Southeast Asia (SEA) region’s varying economies, using one method to push towards clean energy is insufficient.

Daubach (2019) mentioned several experts who discussed that green technologies and remedies must be implemented in electricity production according to each country’s circumstances. For example, Singapore can alternatively generate electricity from nuclear fusion and use zero-emissions vehicles due to constraints in using wind power and solar panels extensively. Nuclear fusion can be used as it minimises land usage and is emission-free, but it requires immense heat plus pressure and is inefficient to mass produce energy. Additionally, green technologies are too costly to meet the Paris Agreement promptly. Daubach (2019) also suggests reducing energy consumption, especially since SEA still uses coal which is a major contributor to global emissions. Accelerating the implementations on green measures can also help in curbing electricity consumption. He then concluded that SEA “needs more innovation to reduce costs in the power, industrial and transportation sectors”.

Based on what Daubach (2019) had discussed above, it is undeniable that SEA has a large room for improvement to tap on its implementation of renewable energy. However, other than the high cost of green technologies, he did not address the key challenges hindering the region such as countries still using traditional fuels to ensure public’s access to electricity, the lack of awareness regarding clean energy and the political choice among countries to implement renewable energy sources.

Firstly, many countries in SEA are prioritising their citizens' access to electricity. To provide electricity at a minimum cost to millions of people, oil and coal are still widely used to produce energy as they are the cheapest sources of fossil fuels for some countries. For example, Brunei Darussalam is continuously using natural gas and oil while Indonesia and the Philippines still uses coal (Ha, 2019). These countries are still using traditional fossil fuels as they are the most affordable and abundant forms of energy available to cater to the demand of their people.

Secondly, there is a lack of awareness regarding the benefits of renewable energy in SEA countries (Smith 2019). It becomes a challenge to implement renewable energy sources when the public have limited knowledge about the importance of sustainability and renewable energy to ensure a green future and the benefits. This is evident in the minuscule action of implementing renewable energy sources by stakeholders such as industrial players and building owners in SEA. For effective and efficient actions to be taken, there should be an increase in education regarding renewable energy to entice stakeholders to be involved in the development of renewable energy in SEA.

Finally, the implementation of renewable energy can be a political choice among the countries in SEA. The monopoly of certain agencies in energy production prevents potential investors of renewable energy and dominat the local energy production. For example, Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN), a state-owned utility company in Indonesia, dominates the energy production sector and owns most of the coal plants there. PLN is thus not incentivised to push itself to towards using renewable energy (Ha, 2019). With the domination of certain utility agencies, it slows down the clean energy movement due to the political influence of the giant utility companies.

In conclusion, although SEA needs to significantly hasten on its implementation of clean energy measures, the respective problems of the nations need to be addressed first for SEA to adopt more renewable energy sources.

Reference:

ASEAN targets to Secure 23% sustainable renewable energy. (2019). YCP Solidiance. https://ycpsolidiance.com/article/asean-targets-to-secure-23-sustainable-renewable-energy-by-2025

Ha, T. (2019). Power PLAY-WHO'S winning Southeast Asia's RENEWABLES race? Eco-Business. https://www.eco-business.com/news/power-play-whos-winning-southeast-asias-renewables-race/

Smith, B. (2019). The challenges renewable energy sources face. AZOM. https://www.azom.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=18220

The ASEAN Post Team. (2020). Renewable energy challenges in southeast asia. The ASEAN Post. https://theaseanpost.com/article/renewable-energy-challenges-southeast-asia

Tun, M., Palacky, P., & Juchelkova, D. (2020). Renewable Waste-to-Energy in Southeast Asia: Status, Challenges, Opportunities, and Selection of Waste-to-Energy Technologies. Review. Applied Sciences.